The Commission Against Corruption (CCAC) has discovered that two customs officers, separately, had fraudulently managed to be granted sick leave for several years by exaggerating their lower back pain conditions when seeing doctors, thereby defrauding the Macau Customs Service of salaries amounting to 1.7 million patacas and 1.3 million patacas respectively.
The anti-graft body announced the two separate but similar cases in a statement yesterday.
Both cases have been transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) for further investigation. Both face charges of fraud involving a considerably large amount of money, the statement said.
The first case’s customs officer was fired last year after a disciplinary procedure concerning another case.
“The two customs officers were granted sick leave of over 1,400 days and over 900 days respectively and were paid salaries of 1.7 million patacas and 1.3 million patacas respectively without having to go to work,” the statement said.
While the statement’s Chinese version did not identify the two officers’ gender, its English version indirectly identified them as males by using “he” in the text.
According to the statement, the customs officer in the first case had “constantly” sought treatment for “recurrent” lower back pain since 2016. Every time he saw a doctor, the statement said, he said he could not go to work due to lower back pain. He was cumulatively granted over 250 sick leave certificates, with sick leave of over 1,400 days, the statement said.
The findings of a CCAC investigation showed that the customs officer left Macau almost every time after getting a sick leave certificate, the statement said, adding that during the periods of sick leave, he frequently commuted between Macau and the mainland to run his car dealership business.
Moreover, the statement said, during some sick-leave periods he organised private group trips to the mainland which involved long-haul flights, long-distance driving, and even hiking activities and carrying heavy objects.
According to the statement, the customs officer in the second case had sought treatment for lower back pain and leg pain since 2018. He also told his doctors that he could not go to work due to the pain. In some of his consultations, he was on crutches when he went to see the doctors, the statement said.
The statement said that the customs officer was cumulatively granted over 160 sick leave certificates, with sick leave of over 900 days.
The statement said he often left Macau during the periods of sick leave. In many of the occasions, the statement said, he even flew to some Southeast Asian destinations, China’s Taiwan region or the mainland to run his business.
According to the statement, CCAC investigators got in touch with the doctors who had issued the two customs officers with sick leave certificates. After being told about the duo’s respective activities during their sick leave, the doctors said they believed that both might have intentionally exaggerated their conditions during the consultations, the statement said.
In addition, the statement said, on many occasions the Macau Customs Service’s Medical Board had concluded that the two officers were able to work, and they were assigned to less physically-demanding tasks due to their purported health conditions. However, the two officers still “repeatedly” used back-pain excuses for absence from work and fraudulently managed to get sick leave, the statement said.
Customs follow-up response
In a follow-up statement yesterday, the Macau Customs Service said that it had arranged for the two officers to undergo health checks and examinations by its Medical Board many times, and assigned them to “suitable” tasks in compliance with the Medical Board’s findings in each case.
According to the statement, in the first case the Customs Service dismissed the officer in December last year after completing its disciplinary procedure for a case where he was discovered to have improperly received family allowances.
The Customs Service has launched a disciplinary procedure concerning the other officer, according to the statement.
Meanwhile, in a statement by his office, Secretary for Security Wong Sio Chak said he was paying close attention to the two cases, adding that he had ordered all entities under his portfolio to strengthen their internal management and their officers’ “law-abiding awareness”.
